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LIVING THE FOODIE DREAM The Bay’s smorgasbord of emerging food offerings creates a perfect mix of businesses that not only make great food but also dish up some fantastic stories to boot. WO R DS M O N I Q U E BALVE RT- O ’CO N N O R PH OTOS VAR U N CH AU H AN + S U PPLI E D
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hen it comes to Bay of Plenty foodie success stories, there are many tasty morsels to choose from, with great yarns to share. Avenue Pizza started dishing out pizza from a tenpin bowling venue, while the Pepper & Me founder must alert NZ Post when she has a promotion on – so they can prepare for the product onslaught. UNO introduces you to a man who’s just nuts about nuts, as well as a business wiped out by lockdown. But there’s a silver lining, thanks to New Zealanders’ love of pudding.
AVENUE PIZZA
All are doing great things and have more ideas on the boiler. Like Matt Gillon whose business unashamedly deals in the decadent. Dessert lovers really need to keep Pudding in the Bay, so this talented baker can fulfil his next business dream. “I’d love to one day have a dessert bar with cocktails and music. I’m imagining warm brownie with a scoop of homemade icecream on top and a cocktail to match. It would be a nice place for adults to hang out.” You reckon? Bring it on, we say!
The voice and the guitar strumming are being given a rest as the pizza flipping has taken over. Jo Thompson and his wife spent years travelling around New Zealand and Europe as musical duo Joseph and Maia, before returning to Tauranga to start a family, and thrill the tastebuds of pizza lovers. “I found my hometown was seriously lacking in the pizza I’d seen scattered around the world. I started teaching myself to make it (with many failed attempts) and got a bit obsessed.” His business partner, Tom Davidson, jumped in with his decade of pizza experience and the two started honing what evolved into Avenue Pizza, which opened at Tauranga’s tenpin bowling establishment in 2018. Late last year Avenue Squared opened at 103 Maunganui Road with plans to also re-establish in Tauranga before winter.
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The two believe having a naturally leavened sourdough product sets them apart – “more of a challenge, but it yields a better result”. “It’s fun to hone a craft using old techniques, to be part of something that starts from just flour and water but develops into delicious food,” says Jo. Their meatball pizza is most loved by regulars, and for Jo and Tom it’s the simple and classic Margherita. Avenue Squared offers Detroit-style pizza. Cooked in square tin pans the crust is fluffy (more like focaccia bread). When Avenue Pizza reopens in a Tauranga CBD location, it will offer the same round pizzas of the tenpin bowling venue days. Be ready to be bowled over though, as this pizza duo is into “refining”. “We want to push the quality as far as we can,” Jo says. AVENUEPIZZA
